Chris Cooley was the longest tenured Redskin and is their all-time leading receiver as a tight end, but all good things come to an end. The Redskins cut the 2004 3rd round pick, who has caught 428 passes for 4703 yards and 33 touchdowns over the course of 8 seasons for them. The writing appeared to be on the wall for Cooley all offseason as he missed most of last season with injury and only caught 8 passes. He lost his starting job to Fred Davis and was owed 3.85 million in salary and counted for 6.23 million against the cap (3rd highest on the team). Never one to be mistaken for a good blocker, Cooley’s explosiveness as a receiver is also mostly gone at this point in his career.

His only chance to make the roster was as an h-back/fullback type at a reduced rate, but Cooley was apparently not willing to take a pay cut because he still felt he could start somewhere in the league. Even only heading into his age 30 season, it’s unlikely someone would sign him to be a starter, especially at this stage of the offseason, but the Raiders, Bills, and Bears might all have significant roles for him, to name a few possibilities. The Panthers and Eagles are other possibilities if he’s fine with a more limited role. Both of those teams have shown interest in Jeremy Shockey, the other available big name veteran tight end.